Time operated releasable keeper lock



May 26, 1964 E. O'BRIEN 3,134,253

TIME OPERATED RELEASABLE KEEPER LOCK Filed July 25, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 l /k l 34 28 56 ATTORNEYS May 26, 1964 E. o'BRlEN 3,134,253

TIME: OPERATED RELEASABLE KEEPER LOCK Filed July 25, 1962 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig 5 F ig 7 n,e8 6 gl;

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INVENTOR. EUGENE o' BRIEN ATTORNEYS United States Patent O 3,134,253 TIME GFERA'IED RELEASABLE KEEPER LOCK Eugene OBrien, 5567 Wheeler St., Philadelphia 4, Pa. Filed .Iuly 25, 1962, Ser. No. 212,223 laims. (Cl. 70-2'71) This invention relates to a time controlled releasable keeper lock, preferably in combination with another lock, the primary object of which is to permit access from the outside by all persons at predetermined times and only by authorized persons at all other times without the necessity of changing the locked condition of said other lock.

Another object is to provide a releasable keeper engageable with a retractable latch in combination with another standard lock and a timing mechanism operative upon the keeper to sequentially retain it in a locked position for a given length of time and in an unlocked position thereafter, so that key operation of said standard lock during the time the keeper is in its locked position will prevent access except by those who also have a key with which to retract the latch, in addition, no key operation being required to retract the latch during the time when the keeper is unlocked as the latter is urged to an open position by pressure of the latch thereagainstI Another object is to provide a latch lock and a dead bolt lock in combination with a releasable keeper for the latch lock, said latch lock being manually retractable from the inside and only key retractable from the outside and timing means to retain the keeper in an immovable position to obstruct the latch for a given period of time and to retain the keeper in a position where it is movable to an open position by pressure of the latch thereagainst for another given period of time.

Another object of the invention is to provide a movable keeper for a non-retractable latch and timed means to sequentially lock said keeper against movement for a particular period of time and to retain said keeper in an unlocked or movable condition thereafter.

Other objects and features of the invention will become more apparent as the following description proceeds in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a diagrammatic View of the system or overall combination of locks, keeper and timer employed in the instant invention;

FIGURE 2 is an elevational view of the keeper and associated parts illustrating the locked position of the keeper;

FIGURE 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of FIGURE 2 showing the locked position of the keeper;

FIGURE 4 is a sectional View taken on the line 4--4 of FIGURE 2 showing the unlocked position of the keeper;

FIGURE 5 is an elevational view of the cam plate in the keeper locking position;

FIGURE 6 is a fragmentary elevational View illustrating the action of the stop on the cam plate in the unlocked position of the keeper;

FIGURE 7 is an elevational view of the cam plate in the keeper unlocking position; and

FIGURE 8 is a diagrammatic view of the timer circuit and solenoids.

Specific reference is now made to the drawings wherein similar reference characters are used for corresponding elements throughout.

Indicated generally at 1i) is a door in which is installed two locks. One is a standard lock l2, preferably dead bolt, whose locking bar 14 is movable by key operation from the outside into and out of engagement with a conventional fixed keeper 16 mounted in the door jamb I8. The other lock 20 is one having a latch 22 which is manually retractable from the inside by a knob (not 3,134,253 Patented May 26., 1964 shown) but normally locked from the outside (classroom or store room function). The latch is engageable in a movable keeper mechanism 24 which is installed in the door jarnb.

The keeper mechanism includes a vertically extending front plate 26 with an opening 28 therethrough. A housing 3i? is mounted at the opening 28. Pivoted as at 32 to the upper and lower end walls of the housing 3i) is a conventional keeper 34 which has a curved bevel 36 and a planar surface 38, there being a spring 40 which is wound about the pivot pin 32 whose ends bear on one end wall of the housing 3i) and on a surface of the keeper 34 which is perpendicular to the surface 38, the spring acting to urge the keeper into the latch-obstructing position of FIG. 3. Extending from the opposed upper and lower surfaces of the keeper towards the upper and lower end walls of the housing are pintles 42.

Positioned between the end surfaces of the keeper and the end walls of the housing 30 and pivoted thereto as at 44 are short plates 46 each with a rectangular notch 4S at its rear edge and an arcuate notch 50 at its side edge. A bar 52 is provided on the inside of the housing 30 which is pivoted to the end walls thereof as at 54 about an axis parallel to the pivot axes of the keeper 34 and the Yplates 46. Extending from one face of the bar is a pin 56.

Thus, if the bar 52 is urged towards the keeper and engages in the notches 48 of the plates 46, as shown in FIGURE 3, the keeper is locked in the sense that it is immovable about its pivots 32, for the pintles 42 enter the notches 50 of the plates and any attempted movement of the keeper will urge the plates 46 against the bar 52. On the other hand, if the bar 52 is moved away from the keeper, as shown in FIGURE 4, until it is free of the notches 48 of the plates 46, there is nothing to obstruct pivotal movement of the keeper. Such movement, which is caused by pressure of the latch 22 against surface 38 allows the pintles 42 to pivot the plates 46 and then ride out of the notches 50 as shown in FIGURE 4.

The means to retain the keeper in the locked and unlocked positions for predetermined sequential periods of time comprises a cam, timer, solenoids, switches and circuitry, as seen in FIGURE 8, operative upon a cam bar 58 which is mounted for sliding movement against locking bar S2. The cam bar 58 has an inclined cam surface 60 against which the pin 56 rides, as seen in FIGURE 5, and when the pin engages the high point (widest part) thereof (see FIGURE 7), the locking bar 52 is urged to the keeper release position (FIGURE 4) whereas when the pin is at the low point of the cam surface (FIGURE S), the locking bar 52 pivots to the keeper-lock position of FIGURE 3. Fastened to the bar 52 is a leaf spring 6I which presses against the inner surface of cam plate 58 biasing pin 56 against the cam surface 60 and urges bar 52 into the notch 48. The cam bar is also provided with a hole 62 at its upper end.

Secured on the housing 3i? is a yoke 64 which slidably mounts a stop rod or pin 68 which is urged by a spring 66 towards the cam bar 58. In the keeper-locked position, the stop rod 68 will extend into the hole 62 and in the keeper-released position it will extend over the end of the cam bar 58 (FIGURE 7) to restrain its upward movement. The end of the rod 68 has a head 70 adjacent which the rod receives the yoke end of a lever bar 72 which is pivoted as at 74 to the plate 26 for movement towards and away from the plate, the lever having an apertured arm 76.

A first solenoid 78 is mounted on the plate 26 above the lever bar 72 and includes an armature S0 to the end of which is pivoted as at S2 a bent bar 84 whose other end is hooked through the apertured arm '76, there being a spring 36 urging the armature upwardly and outwardly of the solenoid. A second solenoid is mounted on plate 26 below the keeper and includes an armature 90 which is urged by a spring 92 outwardly and upwardly thereof. The cam bar 58 is bent at right angles as at 94 and is connected as at 96 to the free end of the armature.

The timer 98 is a conventional cam timer having a motor M energized preferably by a 115 v. A.C. source. Its shaft turns preferably at l rev/24 hours and carries cams 100, 102 and 104 which at their high points actuate switches 106, S and 110, respectively. Switch 106 is interposed in the circuit 112 including the iirst solenoid 78; switch 108 is in a circuit 112, 114 which includes the iirst solenoid '73; and switch 110 is in a circuit 116 which includes the second solenoid 83.

In use, if the owner of an establishment wishes to exclude an employee at all times except during working hours, the employee is given a key only to the standard lock 12 while the owner has keys for both locks 12 and 20. During working hours the standard lock 12 remains open and the latch 22 of lock 20 is locked from the outside and retractable by rotation of a knob from the inside. The timer is so set that during these working hours the keeper is unlocked as in FIGURES 4 and 7 so that by pressure of the latch bolt 22 against the keeper, the latter will pivot out of the way and allow the door to open from the outside. At the close of day (at a chosen time interval), the cam 100 will close switch 106 causing the armature S0 to move downwardly and lever bar 72 to in turn retract stop pin 6g from above cam bar 58. This will allow spring 92 around armature 90 to push upwardly against and move the cam bar 58 upwardly until the stop pin 68 re-engages in the hole 62 of the cam bar. In this movement, the pin 56 reaches the low point of the cam surface 60 causing the bar S2 to pivot inwardly and engage in the notches 48 of the plates 4d and thereby locking the keeper 34 against movement. Thus, after working hours, the employee can open standard lock 12 by key but cannot open the door as the surface 38 of the keeper 34 bears immovably against the latch bolt 22. However, the owner can open the door as he can retract the latch bolt 22 by key.

After a predetermined interval (morning hour) when it is desirable for the employee to again have access, cam 102 closes switch 108 which energizes solenoid 7S so that its armature 80 acts to retract stop pin 6@ out of the hole 62 in the cam bar. Then cam 104 actuates switch 110 to energize solenoid 88 so that its armature 90 pulls down the cam bar 58 until the stop pin 63 is urged by spring 56 over the end of the cam bar. The solenoid 78 remains energized and holds stop pin 68 in the retracted position until the cam bar SS is in its lowermost position. Then solenoid 78 becomes de-energized to permit the spring 66 to urge stop pin 68 over the end of the cam bar. In this movement, the cam bar has moved so that pin 56 has reached the high point of cam surface 60 to pivot bar 52 out of engagement with the plates 46. Thus, the keeper 34 is now pivotally movable to an open position by the latch bolt 22 after the employee has opened standard lock 12. In the nal position, the cam 104 allows switch to open and de-energize solenoid 88.

While a preferred embodiment of the invention has here been shown and described, it will be understood that minor variations may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention and the scope of the appended claims. Thus, the keeper lock mechanism can be employed with a non-retractable latch bolt so that access is possible only by timed release of the keeper lock.

I claim:

1. In combination with a lock having a latch which is manually retractable from one side and only key retractable from the other side, a releasable keeper for said latch mounted for movement towards and away from said latch, means to retain said keeper immovably against said latch, and time-controlled means operatively connected to said keeper retaining means to release the same for a predetermined period and permit said keeper to be movable into an open position by pressure of said latch against said keeper, said keeper being pivoted and including at least one pintle on one side thereof, said retaining means including at least one pivoted plate engageable by said pintle and a pivoted bar engaging said plate and urging it against said pintle.

2. The combination of claim 1 wherein said bar includesa pin and said timecontrolled means includes a cam plate having a cam surface and means to shift said cam plate to a keeper unlocking position wherein said pin engages the high point of said cam surface and pivots said bar out of engagement with said pivoted plate.

3. The combination of claim 2 and a spring-urged movable stop acting upon said cam plate to retain the same selectively in the keeper locking and keeper unlocking position.

4. The combination of claim 3 wherein said means to shift said cam plate includes a rst solenoid connected to said stop and a second solenoid connected to said cam plate, a circuit to said solenoids including switches and cams rotatable at a predetermined rate to periodically activate said switches in sequence wherein said springurged movable stop is rst retracted and then said cam plate is shifted to said keeper unlocking position.

5. The combination of claim 4 wherein one of said switches in said circuit is activated to open and break the circuit to said first solenoid when said cam plate is shifted to said keeper unlocking position to permit said springurged stop to re-engage and retain said cam plate in said position.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 420,834 Seib Feb. 4, 1890 448,110 Bates Mar. 10, 1891 843,730 Wittmann Feb. 12, 1907 3,083,562 Weizer Apr. 2, 1963 

1. IN COMBINATION WITH A LOCK HAVING A LATCH WHICH IS MANUALLY RETRACTABLE FROM ONE SIDE AND ONLY KEY RETRACTABLE FROM THE OTHER SIDE, A RELEASABLE KEEPER FOR SAID LATCH MOUNTED FOR MOVEMENT TOWARDS AND AWAY FROM SAID LATCH, MEANS TO RETAIN SAID KEEPER IMMOVABLY AGAINST SAID LATCH, AND TIME-CONTROLLED MEANS OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO SAID KEEPER RETAINING MEANS TO RELEASE THE SAME FOR A PREDETERMINED PERIOD AND PERMIT SAID KEEPER TO BE MOVABLE INTO AN OPEN POSITION BY PRESSURE OF SAID LATCH AGAINST SAID KEEPER, SAID KEEPER BEING PIVOTED AND INCLUDING AT LEAST ONE PINTLE ON ONE SIDE THEREOF, SAID RETAINING MEANS INCLUDING AT LEAST ONE PIVOTED PLATE ENGAGEABLE BY SAID PINTLE AND A PIVOTED BAR ENGAGING SAID PLATE AND URGING IT AGAINST SAID PINTLE. 